• Rave New World (27/2)

    February 27, 2015 - By 

    In a particularly excellent installment of Rave New World, Antoin Lindsay and Aidan Hanratty team up once more to deliver your weekly fix of electronic gig previews, tracks and mixes/releases. Get stuck in, you bunch of rascals. GIGS Celtronic present: Prosumer at The Glassworks, Derry Friday, February 27 My hometown is bringing one of my personal favourite DJs to The Glassworks tonight. Prosumer (above) knows how to bring the party, so expect lots of amazing deep cuts old and new from the German. Check out his recent Fabric 79 mix for the perfect taster of exactly what the guy can do. AL…

  • Tour Diary: Ciaran Lavery in Kansas

    February 26, 2015 - By 

    Head of Belfast-based imprints Champion Sound and Quiet Arch, Lyndon Stephens reports back from Northern Irish singer-songwriter Ciaran Lavery’s recent industry festival jaunt in Kansas Thursday Accompanied by yours truly, Ciaran Lavery flew to Folk Alliance festival in Kansas City, Missouri last week four days of intense industry showcase gigs. Famous for Dorothy, Toto, Union Station, The Liberty Memorial, BBQ and as the State where the Civil War started, Kansas hosts this industry event with a difference. Everything takes place over four days in two interconnected hotels. Labels, management companies, agents, magazines and government agencies rent rooms or suites (depending…

  • Track Record: Vinyl Love @ Quarter Block Party

    February 24, 2015 - By 

    Brid O’Donovan chatted with Stevie on the Sunday of Quarter Block Party and he was hosting Vinyl Love in Gulpd Cafe.  They were about six hours into a ten hour set of twenty five DJs playing 7 7” records. A few hours earlier the wonderful Siobhan Kane of Young Hearts Run Free chaired a panel discussion titled Life Has Surface Noise. Daragh O Halloran, Peter Twomey, Justin Grounds and Stevie Grainger shared with us their memories of growing up with the records they hooked to their veins. Justin spoke beautifully about how music connects us to our time and Siobhan…

  • Cork Heads: Jack Crotty (The Rocket Man)

    February 25, 2015 - By 

    Jack Crotty is founder and owner of The Rocket Man, which is a salad and juice bar on Princes street in Cork city. He also trades at markets and organises events in Cork. Food at Home There are two different sides of my family, as there is with everyone’s family. My mum’s side of the family would be very into growing food and eating healthily and my Dad’s side wouldn’t be as much but they still would have a good respect for food. It certainly was from my Mum that all that came from. Sourcing properly and ethically. It’s really…

  • Monday Mixtape: Bob Nastanovich (Pavement/Silver Jews)

    February 23, 2015 - By 

    Ok, we admit it: our predisposition to mid-Nineties American indie rock is pretty marked. Now that we’ve combined forces and shoved the elephant out of the room, let’s get down to business. Following in the ridiculously tasteful footsteps of Quasi’s Sam Coomes, as well as our very own Ciaran Lavery, Niall Kennedy from And So I Watch You From Afar, Ciarán Smith from Crayonmith and Girls Names‘ Claire Miskimmin, U.S musician and all-round good guy Bob Nastanovich is next up for this week’s Monday Mixtape. A glaringly charimastic member of Pavement and Silver Jews, Nastanovich selects some of his all-time favourite songs from the…

  • Bookmark: Colm Kenny-Vaughan

    February 23, 2015 - By 

    Bookmark is the first of a new series where we explore the collected books of those who entertain us in the world of arts and literature. We chat to Colm Kenny-Vaughan, a Dublin based theatre actor and choral singer about the books that have influenced and inspired him in his line of work. Photos by Abigail Denniston. George R.R Martin – A Dance With Dragons I know Game of Thrones is a very popular TV series at the moment, and it’s not hard to see why based on the books (collectively entitled A Song of Ice and Fire). This latest installment…

  • Monday Mixtape: Ciaran Smith (Crayonsmith)

    February 16, 2015 - By 

    Following in the footsteps of the likes of Ciaran Lavery and Claire Miskimmin from Girls Names, Ciaran Smith (pictured, left) from Dublin band Crayonsmith selects his all-time favourite tracks – Fog, Rhye, Viet Cong etc. – for this week’s Monday Mixtape. Crayonsmith are currently recording an EP and playThe Horse and Stables, London, on March 17

  • The Thin Air Valentine’s Playlist

    February 13, 2015 - By 

    Sure, every second song is about love or lack thereof, but that hasn’t stopped us from compiling a Spotify playlist summing up the sometimes transformative, other times twisted world and ways of love pretty flippin’ succinctly. Featuring Mojave 3, James Blake, Pavement, Grizzly Bear, The Smashing Pumpkins, The Magnetic Fields and more, you can and subscribe to it below.

  • Rave New World (13/2)

    February 13, 2015 - By 

    In the latest installment of Rave New World, the ridiculously informed, boundlessly savvy Antoin Lindsay & Aidan Hanratty delve into best new electronic tracks and mixes of the week, as well as various unmissable upcoming nights and releases. GIGS Rødhåd at District 8, Dublin Friday February, 1 Everyone’s favourite techno DJ with a name they’re not really sure how to pronounce is in Dublin tonight. Is it Rod-had, Red-head, Rod-head, who actually knows? Does anyone actually care? Expect relentless techno from Rødhåd (pictured) who seems to have quietly catapulted himselfinto the higher ranks of techno royalty in the last 18 months. His ever-burgeoning reputation is…

  • For David Pajo (1968-)

    February 13, 2015 - By 

    Over a decade ago now, I discovered the music of Elliott Smith on a Nirvana messageboard. Looking back, it was most definitely a potent catalyst for everything I have looked for in music – and elsewhere – ever since. Someone recommended I check out ‘Tomorrow, Tomorrow’ from XO as a starting point, so I did. I was immediately infatuated; like a giddy moth to a burning flame, instantly seduced by the mournful turns and phrases of Elliott’s words and chords. Without hesitation, I threw myself into his varyingly exceptional discography, listening to nothing else for days on end in the depths…